Bagso
Actually Heathrow's EBITDA was £1,567,000,000. Your figure is missing three zeros. By way of comparison MAG's EBITDA was £284,000,000.
EBITDA is a measure of cash profits, before depreciation and interest on debt. Profit before tax (PBT) is after both depreciation and interest. Heathrow's relatively low PBT (and low tax charge) is largely a result of the fact that it is very highly debt-funded, much more so than MAG. This financial structure is due to the perceived low risk of Heathrow, such that it is able to gear up to such a debt-heavy capital structure. The regulatory structure also gives Heathrow a strong incentive to maximise debt.
As for Heathrow's ability to finance R3, Davies has shown that this will require a substantial uplift in airport charges. But Davies felt this was achievable, even if HAL has to fund the £6bn in surface access costs.
HAL's shareholders are very keen to proceed with T5. Obviously Ferrovial have a special interest, given their involvement in construction... But the other shareholders (eg pension and sovereign wealth funds) are looking to achieve predictable returns on what is perceived as a regulated low risk investment. They have a lot of money to invest and they need to put it somewhere.
Last edited by BasilBush; 26th Jul 2015 at 17:17.